_C. Caesarem_. Caligula, cf. 4, note.--_Agita.s.se_, etc. cf. 39. His. 4, 15; Suet. Calig. 44.
_Ni--fuissent_. Cf. _Ni_, 4, note. The ellipsis may be supplied thus: he meditated an invasion of Brit. and _would have invaded it_, had he not been _velox ingenio_, etc. But in idiomatic Eng. _ni_==but. Of course _fuisset_ is to be supplied with _velox ingenio_ and _mobilis poenitentiae_. Al. poenitentia. But contrary to the MSS. _Mobilis_ agrees with _poenitentiae_ (cf. Liv. 31, 32: celerem poenitentiam), which is a qualifying gen. Gr. 211. R. 6. Lit. _of repentance easy to be moved_.
Render: _fickle of purpose_.
_Auctor operis_. Auctor fuit rei adversus Britannos gerendae et feliciter gestae. Dr. See on the same subject Suet. Claud. 17.--_a.s.sumpto Vespasiano_, cf. Suet Vesp. 4. II. 3, 44.
_Quod--fuit_. Vespasian"s partic.i.p.ation in the war against Brit. was the commencement of his subsequent brilliant fortunes.
_Monstratus fatis_, i.e. a fatis, _by the fates_. The expression is borrowed perhaps from Virg. Aen. 6, 870: _Ostendent_ terris hunc tantum _fata_.
XIV. _Consularium_. Cf. note on it, 8.--_Aulus Plautius_. Ann. 13, 32; Dio. 60, 19.--_Ostorius Scapula_. Ann. 12, 31-39.--_Proxima_, sc. Romae.
_Veteranorum colonia_. Camolodunum. Ann. 12, 32. Now Colchester. Dr.--_Et reges. Kings also_, i.e. besides other means.--_Ut vetere_, etc. So in the MSS. and earliest editions. Rhena.n.u.s transferred _ut_ to the place before _haberet_ which it occupies in the common editions. But no change is necessary. Render: _that in accordance with their established custom, the Roman people might have kings also as the instruments of reducing_ (the Britons) _to slavery_.
_Didius Gallus_. Cf. Ann. 12, 40: arcere hostem satis habebat.--_Parta a prioribus. The acquisitions (conquests) of his predecessors_.
_Aucti officii. Of enlarging the boundaries of his government. Officium_ is used in a like sense, Caes. B.C. 3, 5: Toti officio maritimo praepositus, etc. So Wr.; Or. and Dod. understand by it _going beyond_ the mere performance of his _duty_. It was his duty to protect his province: he enlarged it.--_Quaereretur_. Subj. in a relative clause denoting a purpose. H. 500; Z. 567.
_Veranius_. Ann. 14, 29.--_Paullinus_. Ann. 14, 29-30.
_Monam insulam_. Now Anglesey. But the _Mona_ of _Caesar_ is the Isle of Man, called by Pliny _Monapia_. The Mona of T. was the chief seat of the Druids, hence _ministrantem vires rebellibus_, for the Druids animated and led on the Briton troops to battle. T. has given (Ann. 14, 30) a very graphic sketch of the mixed mult.i.tude of armed men, women like furies, and priests with hands uplifted in prayer, that met Paullinus on his landing, and, for a time, well nigh paralyzed his soldiers with dismay.
In the same connexion, he speaks also of the human sacrifices and other barbarous rites, which were practised by our Briton Fathers in honor of their G.o.ds.
XV. _Interpretando. By putting their own_, i.e. _the worst construction upon them_.
_Ex facili_==facile. A frequent form of expression in T., ad Graecorum consuetudinem. Dr. See R. Exc. 24.
_Singulos--binos_. Distributives==_one for each tribe--two for each tribe_.
_Aeque--aeque_. Like Greek correlatives; alike fatal to their subjects in _either case_. So [Greek: h.o.m.oios men] and [Greek: h.o.m.oios de], Xen.
Mem. 1, 6, 13; Plat. Symp. 181. C.
_Alterius ma.n.u.s centuriones, alterius servos_. This is the reading of the latest editions (Dr. Wr. Or. and R.), and the best MSS., though the MSS.
differ somewhat: _Centurions, the hands_ (instruments) _of the one, and servants_, the hands _of the other, added insult to injury_. For the use of _ma.n.u.s_ in the above sense, reference is made to Cic. in Ver. 2, 10, 27: Comites illi tui delecti _ma.n.u.s_ erant tuae. So the _centurions_ of the _legate_ and the _servants_ of the _procurator_ are said by our author to have robbed the Briton King Prasutagus of his kingdom and his palace, Ann. 14, 31, which is the best commentary on the pa.s.sage before us.
_Ab ignavis. By_ the feeble and cowardly. Ant.i.thetic to _fortiorem. In battle, it is the braver that plunders us; but now_ (it is a special aggravation of our sufferings, that) _by the feeble and cowardly_, &c. So in contempt, they call the veterans, cf. 14: _veteranorum colonia_; 32: _senum colonia_.
_Tantum_ limits _pro patria_; as if it was for their _country_ only they knew not how to die.
_Si sese_, etc., i.e. in _comparison_ with their own numbers.
_Patriam--parentes_, sc. _causas belli esse_.
_Recessisset_. Observe the subj. in the subordinate clauses of the oratio obliqua throughout this chapter. H. 531; Z. 603.
_Neve--pavescerant_. This verb would have been an imperative in the oratio recta, Z. 603, c. _Neve_ is appropriate either to the imp. or the subj.
XVI. _Instincti_, i.e. furore quodam afflati. Dr. For a fuller account of this revolt, see Ann. 14, 31-38; Dio. 62, 1-13.
_Boudicea_. Wife of Prasutagus, king of the Iceni. When conquered, she ended her life by poison, Ann. 14, 37.
_Expugnatis praesidiis. Having stormed the fortresses_. The force of _ex_ in this word is seen in that it denotes the _actual carrying_ of a place by a.s.sault, whereas _oppugnatus_ only denotes the a.s.sault itself. So [Greek: ek-poliorkaetheis]==_taken_ in a siege, [Greek: poliorkaetheis]==besieged.
_Ipsam coloniam_. Cf. note 14: veteranorum colonia.
_In barbaris_==qualis inter barbaros esse solet. R. Exc. 25.
_Ira et victoria_. Hendiadys. Render: _Nor did they in the excitement of victory omit_, etc. So Dr. R. and Wr. _Ira_ may, however, refer to their _long cherished resentment. Ira_ causam, _victoria_ facultatem explendae saevitiae denotat. Rit.--_Quod nisi. And had not_, etc. Cf. note, 12: _quod si_.
_Patientiae_. Most Latin authors would have said: ad patientiam. R.
_Patientia_ here==_submission_.
_Tenentibus--plerisque. Though many still retained_, i.e. did not lay down _their arms_.
_Propius_. Al. _proprius_. But that is purely conjectural. Adv. for adj., cf. ultra, 8; longe, 6==propior, like the _propior cura_ of Ovid.
Metamor. 13, 578. Render: _a more urgent fear_. Some would connect _propius_ with _agitabat_ notwithstanding its remote position.
_Suae quoque_. _His own also_, sc. as well as that of the Empire.
_Durius_, sc. aequo. H. 444, 1. cf. 4: _acrius_, note.
_Delictis--novus_. _A stranger to their faults_. Cf. Sil. Ital. 6, 254: novusque dolori. Wr. Cf. Bot. Lex. Tac. _Dativus_.
_Poenitentiae mitior_, i.e. mitior erga poenitentiam, or facilior erga poenitentes. _Poenitentiae_ dat. of object.
_Compositis prioribus_. _Having restored things to their former quiet state_.
_Nullis--experimentis_. _Undertaking no military expeditions_. Or.-- _Castrorum_. Cf. 5, note.
_Comitate--tenuit_. "_Retained the province by a popular manner of administering the government_." Ky.--_Curandi_. Note, H. 1, 52.
_Ignoscere_. Properly _not to notice_, hence _to view with indulgence, to indulge in_.
_Vitiis blandientibus_. The reference is to the _luxurious and vicious pleasures_ of the Romans, which enervated the Britons, cf. 21, at close, where the idea is brought out more fully.
_c.u.m--lasciviret_. _c.u.m==since_. Hence the subj.
_Precario_. Cf. note, G. 44.--_Mox_, cf. note 4.
_Velut pacti_ implies a _tacit_ compact. It was understood between them, that the army were to enjoy their liberty; the general, his life. Supply _sunt_ with _pacti_. Dod. and Wr. supply _essent_; but they read _haec_ for _et_ before _seditio_ contrary to the best MSS.
_Et seditio_. _Et==and so_. Al. haec seditio.
_Stet.i.t_. Not stopped, but stood, as in our phrase: stood them in so much. So Ovid: Multo _sanguine_--victoria _stet.i.t_. And T. His. 3, 53: Majore _d.a.m.no_--veteres civium discordias reipublicae _stetisse_. Render: _cost no blood_. Dr.